Squeals Like a Pig

[neanderthal mach]

Yep I think SLK001 has it nailed. With sleeve type bearings, any unusual noise or that squeal is a sure sign of a lube issue. Thinking I somehow knew better than the manufacturer about lubrication ended up costing me a $800 + lathe motor. And grease should never ever be used in place of oil if that's what's recommended. In general, grease is seldom used anywhere on manual machine tools, and for good reason. Grease retains any of the inevitable wear particles and/or contamination such as cutting chips. That literally and vastly accelerate further wear happening simply because it starts working somewhat like lapping does. Oil helps to both lubricate and flush or wash out that same contamination. Or at least a whole lot better than grease will unless it's being used in something designed to use that exact type of recommended lube. Using grease on lathe change gears to lessen the thrown oil and bit of mess is another prime example, it's a real bad idea. A few drops of way oil every few hrs are all that's needed.

Reading through the Machine Tool Reconditioning book just once was more than enough to instantly change my habits about way surface cleanliness and using more than enough lubrication. As well as often enough to help keep things cleaner. I'd bet a lot that far more machine tools are damaged and worn out long before they should be just due to the incorrect or not often enough correct lubrication. Oil is the cheapest preventative maintenance you can do with any machine tool.

 

[VanillahGarillah]

THIS is your problem.

Thank you

What rebuild manual do you have?

Clearly, the wrong one. I probably read something wrong. It’s a problem for me sometimes.

 

[SLK001]

Clearly, the wrong one. I probably read something wrong. It’s a problem for me sometimes.

That IS the best book out there, with the one exception that they recommend putting the grease in for the cone bearings. I looked at my book, and it too recommends a non-oil based lube here (SUPER LUBE synthetic grease). It is a Teflon based grease, but NOT EVEN CLOSE to the Teflon grease that SB originally specified in the later year lathes. Since the grease that SB spec'd is no longer made, you need to fall back to the Type C oil used previously.

I have some of the SB spec'd grease (Roy Dean "DE something something"), but I don't like it. There is just too much temp rise in those bearings while using it for me to be comfortable using it, so I abandoned it and went back to Type C.

 

[VanillahGarillah]

That IS the best book out there, with the one exception that they recommend putting the grease in for the cone bearings.

I was away from home when I replied, and first thing to do when I got home was to check the book to see if I read something wrong. No big deal. I’ll clean it all out and will use the correct oil. Thanks again.

 

[scatgo]

We're glad that we could help!

Thanks. Happy New Year to all.

 

[animal12]

I was gettin to that .
animal

 

[VanillahGarillah]

Thanks. Happy New Year to all.

Just a follow up on my screaming back gears. I flushed out the grease as well as I could without taking everything apart and filled the appropriate parts with oil and after many hours of lathe work, it doesn’t scream at all anymore. I really appreciate your advice. What a difference it makes to work on a lathe without dense hearing protection.

The lathe once made a little squeak so I filled up the oil again and no more noise. Are these supposed to be closed systems (back gear spindle and step pulley)? Just wondering if they have a self-changing oil feature aka designed leakage.

James

 

[SLK001]

...Are these supposed to be closed systems (back gear spindle and step pulley)? Just wondering if they have a self-changing oil feature aka designed leakage.

Most of the lube points on your lathe are "flow-thru", meaning you are just dumping your oil into the chip pan (or the floor), with some mechanical stuff in the way to slow the flow rate! The Type A lube points have sumps, which does attempt to reuse the oil. All the B and C lube points are "flow-thru".

 

[rons]

I have a South Bend model A lathe with 4.5' bed. For the first second i turn it on i get a nice little squeal. In my amateur opinion its probably one of the belts. The belt on the three step pully is adjustable for tension but I had no luck adjusting tension. The belt that goes from the motor looks ok but seems a little loose but of course cant adjust tension. Is this a common issue and more likely a belt or a sign of bad things to come like spindle bearings going south on me?

The same thing happens with automobile belts that are loose. When rubber temperature increase the stuff contracts.

 

[VanillahGarillah]

Most of the lube points on your lathe are "flow-thru", meaning you are just dumping your oil into the chip pan (or the floor), with some mechanical stuff in the way to slow the flow rate! The Type A lube points have sumps, which does attempt to reuse the oil. All the B and C lube points are "flow-thru".

I knew that was the case for several of the lube points but I didn’t know about the back gear or step pulley. It seems odd, from a historical perspective for a WWII machine to be designed to ‘waste’ oil unless it has to do with keeping the machine oils clean and fresh. This was a time when oils and lubricants were at an extreme scarcity to the point that the Kaiser shipyards used bananas (not kidding) to lubricate the ship launch rails so as not to consume valuable grease.

 

[SLK001]

Well, you can't lube a lathe with a banana, but you CAN lube a launch rail with one. You put the lube where it is needed the most and making things with a lathe was extremely important during WW2.